116 more detained
The Malaysian law enforcers detained 116 more Bangladeshis between Thursday and Saturday under an ongoing nationwide crackdown against illegal foreign workers.
With this, at least 451 Bangladeshis have so far been held since the beginning of the crackdown on January 21 in order to streamline the country's labour market, according to the Malaysian media.
Malaysian English daily The Star yesterday reported that the immigration department with the law enforcers conducted raids and arrested at least 3,550 illegal immigrants and 30 employers till Saturday.
Of them, 1,400 are Indonesians, 537 Myanmarese, 264 Filipinos and 239 Nepalese. The rest are from other nationalities, Immigration Director Datuk Aloyah Mamat told local reporters.
The foreigners have been detained for various offences, including overstaying, not possessing identification documents and visiting with fake travel documents.
The 30 employers, including 22 Malaysians, four Indonesians, three Bangladeshis and one Nepalese, have been held on suspicion of hiring or protecting illegal immigrants.
Contacted, Begum Shahida Sultana, first secretary (labour) of Bangladesh high commission in Kuala Lumpur, however, said they did not have the exact figure of detained Bangladesh nationals.
“Now, the Malaysian law enforcers are carrying out regular drives to trace the foreigners working illegally,” she told The Daily Star over the phone yesterday.
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